Tyndalls Park Explained

Country:England
Static Image Name:Shops in St Michaels Hill (geograph 3890975).jpg
Static Image Caption:Shops in St Michaels Hill
Official Name:Tyndalls Park
Coordinates:51.46°N -2.6°W
Map Type:Bristol
Unitary England:Bristol
Region:South West England
Constituency Westminster:Bristol Central
Post Town:BRISTOL
Postcode District:BS8
Postcode Area:BS
Dial Code:0117
Os Grid Reference:ST584731

Tyndall's Park is an area of central Bristol, England. It lies north of Park Row and Queen's Road, east of Whiteladies Road and west of St Michael's Hill, between the districts of Clifton, Cotham and Kingsdown. It includes the campus of Bristol Grammar School, and many of the buildings of the University of Bristol.

The area is named after Thomas Tyndall,[1] a Bristol merchant and investor in the slave trade, who between 1753 and 1767 bought a number of fields which then existed in the area and turned them into an ornamental park.[2] He built a stately house on the crest of the hill, on the site of a Civil War fortification, and named it Fort Royal (now known as Royal Fort House). In 1799 Tyndall's son Colonel Thomas Tyndall employed Humphrey Repton to landscape the gardens.[3]

In 1825 and 1833, two roads (Aberdeen Road and West Park) were built in the north western corner of the park, and developed for housing. In 1852 the Tyndalls began selling off the remainder of the western half of the park for development, and in 1877 5acres were sold for a new building for Bristol Grammar School. From 1880, more land was sold to University College, Bristol. The Royal Fort was occupied by members of the Tyndall family until 1916, when Henry Herbert Wills bought it and gave it to the University.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A History of Tyndalls Park. Clifton House. 11 December 2015.
  2. Parker. G.. Tyndall's Park, Bristol, Fort Royal and the Fort House therein. Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society. 1929. 51. 123–141.
  3. Web site: Royal Fort House, Bristol, England. Parks and Gardens UK. Parks and Gardens Data Services Ltd.. 11 December 2015.
  4. Book: Leech. Roger. The St Michael's Hill Precinct of the University of Bristol: The Topography of Medieval and Early Modern Bristol: Part 2. 2000. Bristol Record Society. 104.